Community Stories | Nolanville
Discover how Texas Target Communities (TxTC) partners with local leaders to transform small towns through sustainable planning, design and community engagement.
Projects and products developed within TxTC include community plans (comprehensive, transportation, housing, hazard mitigation, recovery, etc.), designs and master plans, and other studies (assessments, maps, data collection, data analyses, best-practice reports, and public engagement reports).
City of Nolanville
Project: Comprehensive Plan, Designs, Innovative Ideas GenerationThe City of Nolanville is a small town located 10 miles east of Fort Cavazos, one of the largest army bases in the country. In 2014, a partnership formed to develop the city’s first Comprehensive Master Plan. The projects and partnership enabled Nolanville to achieve several milestones such as completing over 90% of the original comprehensive plan action items, obtaining over $3 million in grants, and accomplishing numerous projects. Five years later, the city worked with faculty on a research project called the ENDEAVR initiative to bring to re-envision how small towns utilize technology. Ideas were developed with community feedback by interdisciplinary students in urban planning, landscape architecture, visualization, computer science, and civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering.
Fostered a Culture of Civic Participation
As part of the comprehensive plan, TxTC launched Nolanville’s first ever community-wide public engagement effort. The series of task force meetings fostered social networking and a culture of civic participation. Now there are regular community events, like the 5k Fox Trot, the Train Hop Jamboree, Keep Nolanville Beautiful Clean Up days, and more.
Ripple Effect
Sparked a Mindset Shift
TxTC’s process sparked a mindset shift among the community and city staff and created momentum for future action. Reflecting on the city’s experience in 2014, the city manager described this shift: “With the TxTC involvement with the city and all the task force meetings, it just really brought up the excitement. And people were thinking about possibilities instead of just the same old [mindset], ‘they’ll never change’ or ‘it’s always been that way.’”
Helped Obtain Grant Funding
The small city received significant funds to invest in park and walkability improvements, a new community center, main street improvements, and a recycling program through the Keep Nolanville Beautiful program. The projects and plan allowed the city to meet many grant application requirements. The city manager emphasized that “it’s that comprehensive plan that has provided a wealth of amenities that the city now enjoys, and we’re really thankful for it… When I first got here, the annual budget was under a million dollars. Over the course of this comprehensive plan, we easily received $3 million dollars in grant funding.”
Established a Positive Regional Identity
Before TxTC came to Nolanville, community members felt they did not have a well-established identity. According to the city manager, Nolanville was known only as a small bedroom community. Through projects such as the revamped Monarch Park, walkability and “complete street” improvements, and the success of the ENDEAVR project, the city has become known as “the community that cares” and has gained a positive reputation in the region.